This is the second time I’m writing this post. The first time I wrote it, and then I changed it and then I accidentally erased all my changes and couldn’t remember how to get back to the original (probably because I saved over the top of it) and I gave up. But, I’ve had a week to rid myself of the bad vibes associated with ruined posts and I’m trying again. If I end up erasing this one, so help me…!

Ok. So, this post isn’t really going to have much of anything to do with weddings except that, I suppose, the item I’m featuring could be done in a similar fashion for a wedding. It would probably make a pretty nifty card box or display case of some sort.

Naturally, Jennette, my Card Box Fairy, was the first person I thought of when I was commissioned to create the most important thing I have ever created in my whole entire life. You might think that’s an understatement, but it’s SO not! It might even eclipse (is this bad?) the necklace I beaded, by hand, twice, for my wedding and then promptly lost an hour before the whole shindig started. But that, my friends, is a story for another day because that is now the second-most important thing I ever created.

So, perhaps I should tell you what it was and why it was the most important thing I have ever created in my whole entire life. I’ll try to do so without sounding pathetic (too late, right)?

Do you have a favorite type of music? How about a favorite band? Is there some person or entity out there that just seems to click with your whole entire self even though you don’t know them? If so, you probably know why this commission was so important to me because this guy, his band and their music have been part of me since I was 15 years old.

He made the sign, y’allPhoto by Jennifer Sando

About 2 years ago, I befriended a fabulous Australian photographer by the name of Jennifer Sando. She had started a campaign, of sorts, to capture her dream: she wanted to take a portrait of Eddie Vedder. She was doing it in a very unique and artistic way…not at all a “stalker fan” kind of way. Her talent was evident, to me, instantly. She was looking for people to help get her campaign noticed by Eddie’s “people”. So, I signed on to help and, in the process, we became very good friends.

To make a long story short, with the help of people around the world, Jennifer got her portrait session. And I was one of the very first people to see the photo I posted above.

Since then, Jennifer has come out with a book about the project, the beginning of which has a paragraph or two from me and the end of which contains many more photos from that photo session. The book is called Picture in a Frame. Not only is it a fitting title, but it is also the name of the Tom Waits song that Eddie sang and dedicated to her at the concert he performed shortly after their photo session.

Jennifer had several copies of the book to send to Ed’s “people” (i.e. Pearl Jam Headquarters) in Seattle. One of those copies was for Ed himself. It was supposed to be my job to take those copies up to Headquarters and deliver them myself. I got to go there once before for her and it was an amazing place to be, even if I was only in the stairwell and front lobby for a total of 45 glorious seconds. This time, however, we couldn’t get clearance to make a personal appearance at Headquarters so we had to ship them instead. Jen wanted to be sure that Ed’s copy looked special enough that it would find its way to him. This is where it pays to have a friend who makes cool stuff. I told her not to worry about it. I’d make sure it stood out.

It didn’t hit me until later that I had just volunteered to make something that, if I did my job right, might actually make it into the hands of Eddie Vedder. I felt a little sick, but it was a good kind of sick.

And so I thought long and hard. And then I went to the craft store and spent a few hours thinking longer and harder, trying to get ideas and inspiration and, finally, in the very last aisles, I found it: a suitcase. Whenever Ed travels, he has a vintage suitcase with him. He’s got dozens of these suitcases, so when I saw the case at the craft store, I knew it would be perfect!…once I got all the girliness off of it! So, I immediately texted Jennette and sent her a photo of my find, asking if it would be possible to cover it with something a little more “manly”: